"V"-E day

i've been thinking about this for a few days now, i guess it's only fitting that i post this kind of thing on my blog, so here goes.

this past sunday morning i was listening to a cbc rebroadcast of a report done the morning the allies finally finished off the nazi regime, ending the war in europe. there was cheering, parades, kisses and tears, but i've always wondered what people were cheering about... we're led to believe that they were excited about the fact that we "won", but i'm not sure.

bertrand russell said: "war does not determine who is right, only who is left". with that in mind, i have to ask: were they cheering about the fact that we won, or the fact that tomorrow they won't have that spector of immanent death hanging over their heads?

in war it's always the civilians and innocent bystanders that pay the highest price. presently, while over 1700 american soldiers have died in iraq, nearly 23,000 civilians have been killed. when this war is finally over, what do you think the survivors will be cheering about? something tells me that it won't be "victory".
Society & Culture 2

Comments

Ted

11 May 2005, 7:02 a.m. |

Personally, I think it'll take some decades before the Yanks admit their war was a mistake and morally wrong; they'll probably never admit that their war wasn't legal. Iraq will be this (and the next) generation's Vietnam.

The key difference between WWII, Iraq, Vietnam and even WWI is that what we did, we did not out of political aspirations, a desire to impose another's will or a lust for black gold. We did it because we had to. Because the prospect of world-wide NAZI/Axis domination was an affront to any sane person living in a democratic nation, even those living under the yoke of the politically imperfect British parliamentary system.

The war in Iraq, like most in the 20'th/21'st century is a war of Imperialism and greed - short and simple. The war has also become a guerilla confict, which organized militaries cannot win unless they choose to fight like guerillas in kind. WWII can be boiled down to a grand battle of Good vs. Evil on a scale the world had never seen.

l respect both you and your opinion, Daniel, but I am personally disgusted that you would even dream to compare VE day (and thus WWII) with Iraq in the same breath - shame on you!

I would reckon that a dyed-in-the-wool NDPer would at least have some sympathy, given that VE day is still such a big deal in the countries of the former USSR.

That is my opinion, and that is what we fought for - the right to be able express that opinion. A simplified POV, but true nonetheless.

That's all - Ted out!

daniel

11 May 2005, 12:41 p.m. |

i think you may have missed the point i was trying to make there. i in no way want to compare the reasoning behind the two wars. i, like you agree with the reasoning behind wwII and don't support iraq (or vietnam for that matter).

what i was trying to point out was that when a war is over, you have to wonder why everyone is so happy. is it because they won? or because they won't be at war tomorrow?

war is war -- regardless of the reasons behind it. and in every war, civilians pay the highest price. i used iraq here because it's the most recent conflict, so to me it seemed the best choice. there's no comparison meant to be made outside of each war's effect on the civilian population.

that said however, i don't think that you can claim that wwII was completely devoid of greed and imperialism. the soviet union gained a great deal of land and resources after the war, and lets not forget the hundreds of conflicts in africa over european colonies. all this, as well as the fact that the United states still continues to hold a number of islands in the south pacific left over from their war with the japanese.

what i posted wasn't so much about sympathy, but more curiosity. i don't begrudge those who fought in wwII, my grandfather was one of them. i've just always wondered where that cheering was coming from. and i find it hard to see how people would really care about who "won" after so many years of bombs and death.